Journal of Public Administration
and Policy Research Vol. 3(9), pp. 237-241,
Department
of General Studies, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria
Department
of Political Science, University of Ado Ekiti, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria
Development is
critical and essential to the sustenance and growth of any nation. A country is
classified as developed when is able to provide qualitative life for her
citizenry. Nigeria in the last fifty years has been battling with the problems
of development in spite of huge human, material and natural resources in her
possession. The paper discussed the problems affecting national development as
well as strategies for achieving sustainable development in Nigeria. The paper
adopted secondary data as sources of information. The paper concluded that
faithful implementation of development plan, commitment on the part of the
leaders and absence of corruption are required for the achievement of
sustainable development in Nigeria.
Key words: National
development, development, Nigeria, developing society, governance, development
plan.
INTRODUCTION
The pride of any
government is the attainment of higher value level of development in such a way
that its citizens would derive natural attachment to governance. How-ever, for
a nation to be in a phase of development there must be some prerequisites,
which include sociopolitical and economic stability. The gap between the
developed and the developing countries is not static or narrow but is
continually widening. A large majority of the world’s population in developing
world lives in a state of poverty. The problem of urban population, rural
stagnation, unemployment and growing inequalities continue to face less
developed countries, which Nigeria belongs. Hopes of accelerated development
are difficult to realize. This gloomy situation is of great concern to stake
holders and the concerned citizenry. Nigeria has not been able to engender
meaningful development in spite of her huge resources endowment. This has
greatly affected her quest to improved quality of life of her citizens.
Poverty, unemployment and starvation still pervade the nook and cranny of the
country. Development is essential and critical to growth and sustenance of any
country. In order to successfully enhance meaningful development, effective
strategies must be evolved. Here, we examine the trend of national development
in Nigeria, and provides a workable method of approach to national development.
The paper is further divided as follows: First, we introduce the study and
clarifies some key concepts. Next, we look briefly at some attempted
development strategies in Nigeria and the problems of national development;
then we examine briefly models of development across Asian continent. Finally,
the concluding aspect, provides recommendations based on the study of Asian
model of development as a viable option for Nigerian national development
aspirations.
CONCEPTUAL
CLARIFICATION
Development
Development as a
concept is a victim of definitional pluralism. It is a difficult word to
define. However, attempts have been made by erudite scholars to conceptualize
development. Some of these definitions will be explored for the purpose of this
study. Gboyega (2003) captures development as an idea that embodies all
attempts to improve the conditions of human existence in all ramifications. It
implies improvement in material well being of all citizens, not the most
powerful and rich alone, in a sustainable way such that today’s consumption
does not imperil the future, it also demands that poverty and inequality of
access to the good things of life be removed or drastically reduced. It seeks
to improve personal physical security and livelihoods and expansion of life
chances. Naomi (1995) believes that development is usually taken to involve not
only economic growth, but also some notion of equitable distribution, provision
of health care, education, housing and other essential services all with a view
to improving the individual and collective quality of life (Naomi, 1995). Chrisman
(1984) views development as a process of societal advancement, where
improvement in the well being of people are generated through strong
partnerships between all sectors, corporate bodies and other groups in the
society. It is reasonable to know that development is not only an economic
exercise, but also involves both socioeconomic and political issues and
pervades all aspects of societal life.
National development
National, according to
Longman dictionary of contemporary English, refers to a phenomenon that
embraces a whole nation. National development therefore can be described as the
overall development or a collective socioeconomic, political as well as
religious advancement of a country or nation. This is best achieved through
development planning, which can be described as the country’s collection of
strategies mapped out by the government.
National development
plans in Nigeria
We have had series of
development plans in Nigeria. Nigeria is permanently hunted by the spectre of
develop-ment. Its forty-nine years of independence actually are rolling by
daily in search of development. The myth of growth and development is so
entrenched that the country’s history passes for the history of development
strategies and growth models from colonial times up to date. No term has been
in constant flux as development. This seems the only country where virtually
all notions and models of development have been experimented (Aremu, 2003).
Two years after
independence, the first National Development Plan policy was formulated
between 1962 and 1968 with the objectives of development opportunities in
health, education and employment and improving access to these opportunities,
etc. This plan failed because fifty percent of resources needed to finance the
plan was to come from external sources, and only fourteen percent of the external
finance was received (Ogwumike, 1995).
Collapse of the first
Republic and the commencement of civil war also disrupted the plan. After the
civil war in 1970, the second national development plan 1970 to 1974 was
launched, the plan priorities were in agriculture, industry, transport,
manpower, defence, electricity, communication and water supply and provision of
social services (Ogwumike, 1995). The third plan, covering the period of 1975
to 1980 was considered more ambitious than the second plan. Emphasis was placed
on rural development and efforts to revamp agricultural sector. The fourth plan
1981 to 1985 recognized the role of social services, health services, etc. The
plan was aimed at bringing about improvement in the living conditions of the
people. The specific objectives were: an increase in the real income of the
average citizen, more even distri-bution of income among individuals and
socioeconomic groups, increased dependence on the country’s material and human
resources, a reduction in the level of unemployment and underemployment
(Ogwumike, 1995).
During these periods,
Nigeria’s enormous oil wealth was not invested to build a viable industrial
base for the country and for launching an agrarian revolution to liquidate mass
poverty. For instance, the Green Revolution Programme that replaced Operation
Feed the Nation failed to generate enough food for the masses. In the recent
past, various strategies for development have also been tried with little or no
result; among these were the structural adjustment programme (SAP), Vision
2010, national economic empowerment and development strategy (NEEDS), creation
of development centres, etc. currently, seven point agenda of the present
administration with vision 2020 without any clear methodological approach
towards achieving them. It is obvious that the current results so far are not
what development connotes.
The problems of
national development in Nigeria
In spite of series of
development strategies, put in place by successive governments, and sometimes
with good intentions, all attempts to generate meaningful development proved
futile. Based on this, one is
now confronted with these puzzles: “Were those previous development plans or
strategies bad in their context, or wrongly projected?” If nothing was wrong
with the plans, then why is it still difficult to generate meaningful
development in spite of the huge resources at our disposal? The solutions to
these puzzles are not farfetched. A lot of factors have combined together to
fetter nation’s development.
One, there are in most
cases, no executive capacity responsible for the formulation and implementation
of the plan. What we usually see are officials entrusted to such a position but
without any meaningful executive authority.
Some of the previous
development plans failed because; there was little or no consultation of the
general public. Planning is supposed to involve even the peasants in the
villages. Even, the Local Government officials who are close to the people were
not consulted. Planning is not an edifice where technocrats alone operate
(Mimiko, 1998).
Lack of good governance
also militates against national development. Where there is no good governance,
development becomes a mirage. This is as a result of bad leadership in the
country. Most of our leaders have no sense of commitment to development.
Mimiko (1998) captures
the situation this way: “The decolonization allowed the crop of leaders that
aligned with colonial power to take over Nigeria. This ensured the sustenance
of a neocolonial economy even after political independence. These leaders on
assumption of power quickly turned up the repressive machinery of the colonial
state rather than dismantling it. Significantly, they have no vision of
development to accompany the efficient instrument of repression they inherited.
All they were interested in was access to power and privileges and not
development”.
High level of
corruption and indiscipline is another barrier to development. Nigeria state is
corrupt, managed by corrupt leaders who have made the state an instrument of
capital accumulation, rather than using it to project the interest of the
citizenry. A very good plan supervised by a thoroughly corrupt state can hardly
do a thorough good job (Mimiko, 1998). Corruption and development are
antithetical to each other, the two cannot cohabit, and so, where one is
present, the other suffers.
Another important
factor is the mono-economic base of the country. The country largely depends on
crude oil for her survival to the detriment of other resources. All other
sectors of the economy are neglected. For instance, agriculture, which
constitutes the mainstay of the Nigerian economy in the 1950s and 1960s, has
been thrown into limbo over the years. How would government encourage export
promotion when there is virtually nothing to export? The economy is not
diversified and this is not suitable for a sustainable development (Mimiko,
1998).
Models of development:
Asia in context
The enviable growth and
development patterns of several Asian countries are well known. East Asia is
the only region in the world that has been able to maintain strong, consistent
growth patterns over several decades, led first by Japan and the newly
industrializing economies of Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, etc
(Mimiko, 1998; Adelman, 1995). Apart from the homogenous nature of these
societies, other several factors were responsible for their development. These
were: development of agricultural sector, a system of mass education,
development of indigenous industries, export-oriented strategy, the Spartan
discipline of their leadership, existence of efficient bureaucracy, Lawal and
Oluwatoyin 239 human resources development, encouragement of a dynamic private
sector working in co-operation with the government towards a society-wide
vision of development, institutional capacity building and attention to the
problems of governance, consistency and policy stability, etc (Mimiko, 1998).
Strategies for national
development
The beauty of any
development plan is the faithful implementation of such plan, which its
success lies with the implementers. In our previous discussion, it was
mentioned that most of the past development plans failed as a result of
implementation problem and lack of committed leadership etc. Based on this
fact, new development policies and strategies are currently in place as
alternative strategies for development, such as Seven Points Agenda, Vision
2020, etc. These policies and vision appear to be all embracing but they are
not sacrosanct in their totality. But if faithfully implemented, the nation at
least will move towards path of development. It is in our opinion that to
successfully implement the Seven Point Agenda of the present regime, there some
lessons we can learn from Asian models of development.
First, development
requires total commitment on the parts of the leadership. The need for
discipline and honesty on the part of the project implementers cannot be
compromised; such officials should show enough discipline, interest,
willingness, dedication and honesty. Without these attributes and the will to
pursue set economic goals, all other ingredients of development present would
amount to nullity.
Second, this country
should learn that wholesale liberalization; the type advocated by the
apologists of orthodox SAP is not necessarily synonymous with development. It
goes without saying therefore that a level of state involvement (heterodoxy) is
imperative even in the face of the crucial need for structural adjustment. But
whatever the degree of state involvement, private owner-ship of properties must
be guaranteed for investment to get stimulated (Mimiko, 1997). Although, it is
another question whether Nigerian state as presently constituted can play this
critical role given its embarrassing level of corruption, inefficiency and
incapacitation by commitment to sundry primordial values. Be it as it may, the
goal should be to evolve a process of reformation of the state to make it able
to play the type of highly constructive role that its counterparts are playing
in the whole of East Asia (Mimiko, 1997).
Also, stability and
continuity of policies encourage investment and propel development. For
instance, in Korea, when park was assassinated, his policies remained and were
building on. Nigeria leadership must learn to build on policies rather than to
jettison them for new ones for the sake of party politics and personal aggrandizement.
There is the need for
Nigeria to revamp the agricultural sector; this sector was instrumental in the
development of Japan. Agriculture used to be the mainstay of Nigeria economy
but the discovery of crude oil succeeded in putting agriculture into state of
oblivion.
Human resources
development is also a sine qua non to Nigeria national development; this was
demonstrated in Japan and Korea (Lawal et al., 1976). Development depends very
much on human knowledge and skills. This must be such that a high quality of
education and training is achieved for a large majority at a reasonable price
and the context and quality of such education and training should be relevant
and adequate to the country’s development needs. Literature on development
stresses the axiom that it is the people who develop and that unless there are
large numbers of suitably qualified people, development cannot take place.
There is need for
attitudinal change. Nigerians must as a matter of fact change their pessimistic
attitude towards development. The idea or belief that “things cannot work in
Nigeria or Nigerian factor” should be discouraged. Real development is achieved
through internal activities rather than from external influences. Development
is seen as a process generated within a society by forces propagated and
invigorated by the actual members of that society. It is believed that true
development can neither be started nor sustained by outsiders. Although, no
country can develop in isolation, but heavy emphasis should not be placed on
foreign resources for the country’s development. The models of development of
Japan and China show how these countries utilize their internal resources both
human and material for rapid economic development. It is reasonable that
Nigerians should inculcate a high sense of patriotism as demonstrated by the
Japanese and Chinese.
Importantly,
citizenship should be promoted over indigeneity in order to achieve cooperation
and participa-tion of all communities in the development process. Omotoso
(2008) noted that the 1999 constitution is directly or indirectly promoting
indigeneity in the country. For example, section 318(1) of paragraph (IV)
supports indigeneity. The constitution sets parameters for indigenes and non-indigenes.
It equally gives legal bases to various discriminatory policies that actively
promote indigeneity, contrary to some sections that argue against
discrimination. This is very contradictory. Leadership in Nigeria must behave
in a way to inculcate the spirit of patriotism in the minds of the people, so
that they will be ready to stand with the government in her development
efforts. When Nigerians see themselves as one and not as belonging to one
section of the country as portrayed presently, the urge to develop Nigeria will
be germinated and sustained.
Additionally, the need
to reform electoral process is imperative for socioeconomic and political
development. Electoral fraud is one of the banes of Nigeria’s development. The
role of leadership in development cannot be overemphasized, all efforts towards
development must be coordinated and directed by the leaders, therefore, the
leaders must be development conscious, have genuine interest for development
and the political will to propel such development. The leaders must also have
the cooperation of the people, because, it is the people that develop a nation.
Honestly, the aforementioned ingredients cannot be possible without a
legitimized mandate for the leaders by the people. When a leader assumes office
illegimately or through electoral fraud, such leader is bound to fail in his
effort to generate meaningful development. This is due to the fact that such
illegitimate leaders tend to display characters that repress development such
as; selfishness, corruption, pride, thuggery and inefficiency and also, there
is apathy and natural detachment to development plans by the people as they did
not see such emerging leaders as the products of their consent through voting.
Based on the foregoing, the electoral process should be reformed in such a way
that nobody assumes power (political) through crook or fraudulent means. The
process should be made opened, free, fair and competitive. All legal battles
preceding the elections must be concluded before any swearing in. This, it is
believed, will create genuine environment conducive for development. Lastly,
development plan should not be exclusively regarded as economic issue it should
be seen as holistic and encompassing national issue that cuts across economic,
social, political and psychological aspects of human endeavour.
CONCLUSION
This paper has
carefully discussed national development in Nigeria. It examined the problems
of national development in Nigeria, and carefully outlined the driving forces
of development in some of the Asia countries as models for Nigeria’s
development. The paper also suggested some viable strategies needed to engender
sustainable development in Nigeria. It is the belief of this chapter that if
these options and models are faithfully and judiciously pursued and imbibed,
Nigeria will be well positioned in the global economy by the year 2020.
REFERENCES
Adelman I (1995). Social
Development in Korea, 1953-1993. Paper for the International conference on the
Korea Economy 1945-1995. Korea Development Institute, Seoul, December, pp 9-10.
Aremu I (2003). Development and
Political Stability in Kwanashie (ed) Politics
and Political Power Relations in Nigeria. Lagos. Dat and Partners
Logistic Ltd, 12: 248-262.
Gboyega A (2003). Democracy and
Development: The Imperative of Local Governance. An Inaugural Lecture,
University of Ibadan, pp 6-7.
Mimiko O (1998). The State and the
growth/Development Agenda: Africa and East/Asia in Context in Kolawole D. (ed)
Issues in Nigerian Government and Politics. Ibadan, Dekaal Publishers. 18:
163-166.
Mimiko O (1997). The Global
Village. Selected Topics on International Economic Relations. Akure, Olaniyan
Publishing Company, pp 4:6-7.
Naomi O (1995). Towards an
Integrated View of Human Rights. Hunger Teach Net, 6(3): 6-7.
Ogwumike F (1995). The Effects of
Macrolevel Government Policies on Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation in
Nigeria. Ibadan J. Soc. Sci., 1(1): 85-101.
Lawal and Oluwatoyin 241
Omotoso F (2008). The South-West
Position on the Review of the 1999 Constitution. Paper presented at the
South-West Legislative Conference on Constitutional Review, 23rd – 24th June.
Akure, pp. 5-10.